In Honor of the Last Ancient Church History Class

I would like to share my favorite Dr. Hannah quote of the semester and some of what T and I gleaned from the course. Auditing the class was worth our drive-home discussions alone! When I told Dad I would be going to class with Thomas he described it as a way to have "good inputs" for our conversations together. Lisa McG described it as "glue" for our young marriage. They were both right.

So here's the quote that stuck with me the most:

"My wife and I used to have arguments until we found out that was socially unacceptable. So now we have discussions." :)

In a more serious vein, some other things that struck me:

Christians are "Trophies of Grace, not Perfect People."

One evening Hannah went off on a tangent about Scripture reading/quiet times. Thomas and I were both encouraged and convicted. Dr. Hannah compared our mind to a sieve and the Bible to water saying, "If you constantly pour water through a sieve, it won't collect dirt." And later, "We read the Bible not to learn, but to be in the presence of God...Don't worry about learning it; it will conquer you."

He encouraged the seminarians to always be reading three things:

1. The Bible

2. A Confession (I think his favorite is the Heidelberg)

3."The great hymnology of the church" aka learn the hymns, boys. We always sang a hymn at the beginning of each class. All the verses, of course.

And in honor of the Luther party this weekend...

"We love Luther because he is foolish...with commitment. You don't cross him."

My favorite thing about Dr. Hannah's class was how he viewed and explained the Church, especially all the different denominations of Protestantism. He was pretty mild as he explained that there are a lot of unclears in Scripture. He used baptism as an example and showed how you can take texts and argue for any side (which he did). So you try to group some together and make decisions on these types of things with as much consistency throughout Scripture as possible, but there will always be texts that work for the other side. So at the end of the day, most of us just "dance with the old gal who brought us" and settle on a tradition. It was wonderful to know that all these seminarians were hearing a mild view from a godly man.

He also shared some beautiful pastoral asides. He told the class more than once that at least 60% of what they learn in seminary they will never use in preaching or counseling. In fact, they will never share it with their congregations at all. Instead, it is a foundation and a stronghold to which they can retreat when they are poured out to emptiness. It is to convince them of the truth so they will be unshakeable. It is to comfort them so they can keep ministering when they have nothing to give. He sounded like such a kind, seasoned shepherd of the men in his class as he shared that.

And finally, he also taught them that no matter what theology you hold, there will be times when you are called to comfort someone instead of correct their theology. His example had to do with parenting. He has several daughters and they always had plenty of pets (sound like any family we know?) In an attempt to teach his children about reality and a fallen world, whenever the animals died they were buried in the back yard. Well, one day they got home and the rabbit was dead. "He was already stiff as a board." So, he went out to the back yard, dug a hole, and "tossed that sucker straight up into the air. It landed smack in the middle of the hole and I was about to start packing on the dirt" when his very young daughter came running into the yard with tears streaming down her face. "Daddy, can we pray that his soul will be with Jesus?" Thankfully, Dr. Hannah decided this was not the time to discuss theology and so they knelt in the yard and prayed for the rabbit's soul to be with Jesus. I think all men who have extra-strong convictions and beliefs should have daughters so they can never take themselves too seriously.

Speaking of kids, Annalise and Noah are coming over tonight to trick-or-treat since we'll be out of town this weekend. I believe Annalise will be wearing her flower girl dress with fairy wings :) Maybe we should get out our matching cheerleader costumes, Michelle!